Police Chiefs’ Tasks, Time, and Contingency Theory: An Empirical Examination

• In Event: Police Chiefs: Stress, Tasks, Leadership, Change, and Environment

Abstract

Prior studies have explored the different tasks line-level police officers perform and the amount of time they devote to these tasks. Such studies, commonly called time-task studies are helpful for understanding the daily activities of police officers. Heretofore, this methodology has not been applied to police chiefs. This study presents data from a study of local chiefs of police concerning the time they allocated to different tasks. Additionally, we invoke a contingency theory of organizational response to explain our findings.

Authors

• Kayla L. White, Sam Houston State University

• William R. King, Sam Houston State University